1. Fields of the Invention
The invention concerns a merchandise storage/manipulation system suitable for being computer-controlled and installed in a vehicle. The system enables wholly automatic loading and transferring, as well as quasi-automatic unloading.
2. Background Art
This invention is inspired in the closed conveyor belt of the airport, that are used to transport luggages.
A system, suitable for being computer-controlled, that enables both the storage and the recovery of merchandise previously stowed in barcode-tagged parcels , having interconnected several closed conveyor belts or cyclical elevators.
There are three kinds of conveyor belts: storage, interconnection, and feed belts, the latter lineal. The elevator, however, will always act as interconnection. Each interconnection belt is provided with a minimum number of intakes and/or outputs equal to the number of storage belts connected to it, plus one intake and/or output more for the communication with the outside or with other interconnection devices. Storage belts only comprise one intake and/or output.
Each intake to a belt comprises an access for the merchandise provided with a detection device that, any time it acknowledges an incoming parcel starts the belt automatically; a photoelectric cell; and, immediately after it, a tag reader. As the photoelectric cell detects the incoming parcel, it sends a signal causing the computer to activate a time-input. Once the parcel has gone past, a new signal is sent to the computer, which activates a second time-input. After the tag reader sends a xe2x80x98correct readingxe2x80x99 message, the computer registers the entry and storage of the parcel and determines the storage length by multiplying the time difference between the two signals from the cell by the speed of the belt.
In order to release the merchandise from a belt, each outlet is provided with a pusher or a ramp, preceded by a tag reader, a photoelectric cell, and a device detecting if there is any merchandise blocking the exit. Every time a parcel is to leave the system, the belt rotates until it passes by the cell and the tag reader. Once the photoelectric cell is de-activated and the tag reader detects the parcel, the belt stops, and the pusher or the ramp is turned on, provided that there is no merchandise blocking the exit.
The elevator moves non-stop upwards-downwards, until its wipers contact an active outlet flip-flop indicating that there is merchandise waiting.
The system may be fed manually, by placing the parcels on an intake, or automatically, through a special feed device. In this case, the connection is performed by means of a non-closed conveyor belt placed between the system""s intake and the outlet of the feed device. This conveyor belt is provided with clearance gauge devices, a divertor, and an auxiliary belt, perpendicular to the feed belt, for all rejected merchandise. The clearance gauge devices are responsible for detecting any merchandise whose width and height exceed the acceptable values. If this happens, they will activate the divertor, which will re-direct the rejected merchandise to the perpendicular auxiliary belt.